Cotswold Pete

Give Osaka in Newport a call, they have done roll bar bushings on my 400, so surely your bushings not a problem. Have had them do a few things with my LS, and they know their Lexus and Toyotas inside out. AND you do not need to pay to go over the Bridge these days

Another 4+ years before mine gets to 25, hopefully it will. If it were to give up the ghost I am not sure whether it would be a 460 I would get, and my wife thinks it would be mad to upsize to 4.6 litre from a 4 litre. Even now I cannot get over how lovely a 21 year old car is to drive, so quiet and comfortable (apart from the odd rattle - that needs sorting)

Echo that thought, and if ever you get a chance to see Chris Wood (who I think lives down Kent way) when he does his solo gigs he tells old and modern stories in his songs. seem he do acoustic and electric gigs, and between songs his banter is top-notch.

I had same in my 400, turned out to be leaky radiator with a hole that was small, but one cold day, noticed a bit of steam drifting out of grill which confirmed the problem Maybe Japex up in Kings Langley are worth a call

I recall having problems with the odd freeze with my Mk4, but then when I sorted the 'water in boot' problem the freeze problem stopped. I put that down to the moisture mucking up the read head in the DVD unit. Used to have a Peugeot 406 years ago, and found that it's boot based CD player would get real bad condensation problems in cold weather. Newer seemed to affect the playing of CD's, but assumed it never good to have any condensate near that sort of stuff.

Excellent to see a 26 year old car still in spec and doing it's bit to keep the planet a little less 'smoggy', unlike so many oil-burners of a few years old I see.

Bird Terror Bird

Maybe this video helps - not sure about the tattoos though. How to service sealed Toyota/Lexus box Over the years I have many a strange 'Can't do that without pulling the car apart' views weather main dealers or indies. That's the beauty about the web, at least you can cross-reference what is plainly wrong with some mechanics ideas.

Mk2 looks prim and proper and for sure Mk4 has more booty. Maybe there should be a web site called Beauty for Booty - for cars not real derriers!!

Also owned both, and the Mk3 had its style. However I do like the rear end of a 460 over the 430 or 400 - though a 400 with a 460 rear would look a little odd. Now if the LS400 was between (say) the new Lotus EV hypercar I think it would still be the rose between the £££££ As they say "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder ---- get it out with Optrex"

I have read the same on some USA LOC, but I will have a look, as I am curious as to how much of a pain it could be even if it ends up with me deciding too much bother I just need to find time to have a good look, trouble is that other DIY jobs keep getting in the way, and as I only drive the car about once every ten days not a bother (on the other hand as I am not driving it much also a good time to pull things apart).

As per The-Acre comment when it is dark and smells like burnt fish its probably not so good for the auto-box. When I got my current LS it was 132K with that smell, so did a full replace (having the torque converters sucked dry). Should be able to get it done for between £180 - £200. I am now at just over 70K with the new oil and it is looking okay (starting to look a bit red, but not brown and has no smell), so you should be okay for a while. I have heard people saying a full replace removes the small debris particles that may help the gear box engage surfaces,but my view is the cleaner a liquid the less wear to any mechanical interfaces. I noticed a small improvement in gear changes (the 400 not as smooth as the 430 ), but other than that just seemed like the most cost effective way to deal with ATF over a 5 to 6 year period.

It is photos like that that make me sure that the LS400 Mk4 was the ultimate look in the LS range (if not the full Lexus range).

Only kipped once in the back of my LS, managed about 3 hours (at Lancaster services) before waking up at 06:30 to drive off to Leighton Moss to do some early morning bird watching. Not sure if the RX would have been any better (from watching the video) but most times a bed wins out over a Lexus (IMHO)

Just taken some photos. Am I right in assuming the Tilt and Telescope box is the control unit, not the actual motors. If someone can confirm. Also I would need to take out the lower dash, but not quite sure where to start, any ideas please. If I get to seriously poke around with this (even if not repair) will post images of what is what with a Mk4, as seems to be not a lot of info out there.

I checked out a few YouTube videos and posting in USA, mainly seem to be the tilt gear not aligning, but may just get the covers off the steering column and have a look to see how much of a nightmare it is to get a look at the telescopic motor. At least problem happening in 20 year old car, whereas some owners seem to be having failures in 10 years or so.

Well found this post eventually 2015 posting on telescopic function Seems like a common problem but not a quick fix given where the motor is

Well only the other day I was thinking how the steering wheel had not made a the 'rubbing noise' it did from time to time when retracting. It was only today I realised it actually does not retract and when I pull key out of ignition. When I try a using the tilt/retract control it seems like there is something trying to engage (the column housing moves a smidge) but nothing happens. Tilt function works, and the steering wheel is at least stuck in by best driving position. So not sure if the motor is not working or some linkage is not working. Had a scout about the forums but not found anything (other than if the tilt/retract does not work, all a bit expensive to sort). Any ideas on what my exact problem might and what to take apart to get an idea if worth sorting.

One comment in Timpsons, they are capable of doing a good job, but choose your Timpsons with care.. Had a colleague who used to work for them, and he said the high street stores generally have older cutting gear than the Supermarket ones. I have had 2 LS keys cut at Tesco in Stroud, no problems (even handing over just the metal stub itself). One cut at Cirencester high street was (and is) iffy, and the chap at the Sroud High Street branch said Tesco option 1 mile away was better. Sounds like some branches have gorillas doing the cutting from ajchetcuti experience!!!!

Dotcom

Good points chaps, I assume as it is Mk4, MAF sensor can be cleaned.

Last time I had the throttle body cleaned was about 35,000 miles ago. Only drive the car about every ten days at the moment, but get low idle revs (about 400rpm with a bit of hunting up and down) from time to time, wondering if the throttle just needs another clean, any thoughts. Pretty certain its not a ECU capacitor problem, as had that on previous LS, and that was low-idle/stalling after long runs.

My ATF fully replaced when car was at 140K, was a dirty brown and smelt like toast and fish (odd), took it to Auto Transmission specialist for full clean including getting it all out of torque convertor. Only cost me about £50 more than having a garage do a slight drain and replace a couple of litres. So 70k miles later, ATF is starting to go brown, and umming about whether the do a full replace or not, but does not smell like previously.

Reminded me of this bogus Darwin Award Jato car But now I think about it, the state of Elon's brain is now explained, and why he thinks he wants to move to Mars. Too much time trying out cars that can park your eyeballs in the back of your head, must mess your head up a little. I wonder what Police Interceptors on Channel 5 will be like once some of those doped up numpties start getting their mitts on EVs to go joy riding around in???

Never quite understood the need to re-arrange my internal organs while trying to outdo someone in any car as fast as a rocket, so LS400 acceleration is fine by me, and I drive in the knowledge my car will never have cost me £70K+ no matter how long I keep it, or be hacked by some Ukranian Script Kiddy having fun while I pop to the shops to buy a packet of Polo Mints. Does make me wonder if in the future EV owners will stop for a re-charge and a Costa, and then on trying to head off find the software has turned the car into a heap of confused software